A good day for the LibDems to quietly slip out their report into why they were wiped out last May. So, who was to blame? The public of course:

“the weak public understanding of our party and political opinions meant that our move into government was not well understood”

And the media, obviously:

“media system that did not wish to demonstrate that the first peace-time coalition at Westminster could deliver stable government worsened the experience”

Though to be fair, the LibDem report is considerably more candid than Labour’s whitewash. Tuition fees was top of the list:

“critical disjunction between what we had published on the front page of our 2010 manifesto… namely, the abolition of tuition fees”

Intriguingly, they all ended up having blazing rows with each other:

“Some of the most problematic staff relationships came with overzealous party committee members, who took their frustration with the structure out on staff members”

No one was in charge, despite hiring expensive South African strategist Ryan Coetzee:

“lack of a single, professional campaign director responsible for taking strategic decisions about all aspects of campaigning”

They were seen as Tory patsies:

“we unwittingly manoeuvred ourselves into a position of appearing content to be willing appendages to our coalition partners”

Remarkably, due to “dwindling finances”

“no polling activities of note were undertaken at all during the first years of Coalition”

And morale was, well…

“these factors combined to lead to a daily reality for the party of public rejection, falling internal morale, and consistent electoral destruction”

Despite all this they bizarrely conclude:

“the political plight of the party could have been far worse”

How?